A Hidden Gem
by RoxyLalonde
Summary: Dipper and Mabel live happily together. They've passed through high school together, and are ready to take on the world. But what if it's all too much for one of them? Keeping such secrets from their parents and friends, including their love and a certain bouncing little boy. Will everything break under the pressure?


**A/N: I was inspired by the song "Sparks" by Coldplay and yeah c: I'm really excited to work on this story! Enjoy! Ah, and consider this a prologue to the actual plot line.**

* * *

A beautiful bouncing boy opens his eyes, reaching out to the bright, early morning sunlight. Light drapes around him, as if he's a blessing in all that he is.

And he is, and he is loved. By two people who give everything they have to him. Yet, he is a secret. He must not be known by anyone. Future classmates, neighbors, sure. But the only family he will know are the two parents he has, sleeping soundly in the other room.

* * *

Mabel twirls in front of a mirror, smiling so big and happy it almost hurts Dipper, who's sitting on the bathtub behind her. She's happy again, and that's all he could ask for. More than anything, he valued her happiness. He thinks that maybe, just maybe, she's missed being this happy, too.

"Oh, it's just perfect! I almost look like I could be a star. How about that, Dipper? Me, a star? I could date some boy band member. Wouldn't that be perfect?"

Dipper smiles, even laughs. "Yeah, Mabel. Go for it. You've got the drunk personality down, and great acting skills." There's a bit of an understanding between them concerning that last point. And she catches it, giving him a look in the mirror. Smirking, she winks.

"You're not too bad yourself, partner." She turns around, making white silk graze the tiled bathroom floor. Perfection touching something dirty.

Dipper pushes the relativity to the back of his mind. Mabel tips his head up with a finger. His heart beats faster for what he thinks is coming.

But instead, she looks him seriously in the eyes. "Have a good night tonight, okay? Dance with a girl. Make stupid, perverted jokes with your guy friends. I don't mind. Be happy. Got it?"

He nods. Part of him is lost in her eyes, lost in the moment. Her skin is perfect, and her hair comes down in stunning, cascading waves. Her teeth shine as white as her dress, and her cool, minty breath on his face smells wonderful. She's perfection and he knows it. So when she leans down for a kiss, his mind is mush like always and he closes his eyes, totally okay with everything and the regular feeling of electric sparks shooting through his body returns.

When their lips part, she whispers in his ear, "By the way, you're the only boy I need; boy band or not. I'll just have you sing Dicso Girl for me."

* * *

Wendy shows. Mabel winks from across the room, from the arms of the school quarterback. Dipper's friends hoot and holler, hitting him on the back for keeping a girl like her a secret. He give a weary smile. It's good to see her.

And when he's dancing with her, his height finally beating hers, they chat and catch up.

"How's Mabel? She looks...different, to say the least. You're lucky." She smiles. Making jabs at Dipper's relationship with his twin sister seems to be her favorite pastime.

"Cheery as ever, you know." He pauses to twirl her. He places his hands on her waist, taking her free hand and continuing to lead her in dance.

Before he can resume his sentence, she asks another question. "Do your parents know yet?"

He shakes his head, the dim blue light of the school gym shading his face. "We keep things quiet. Go somewhere else if we really need to."

"Hey, Dipper?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really glad you're happy."

Wendy is the best friend Dipper could ask for. Even if she does live in another state, she checks in regularly. It doesn't hurt when she talks about another guy. It hasn't for so long. Whatever makes her happy; nothing less.

And she's the only one that knows. She never cringed in disgust. Just always concerned for the pair of happy twins.

Dipper looks down at Wendy, the black crescents hanging to his lower lid barely noticeable in the light. "Me too."

* * *

Later that night, Mabel's sound asleep next to Dipper, curled up against his chest. He shakes from the coldness of the hotel room. Their parents think they're spending the night at a friend's.

Dipper planned all along to pay for the room.

Mabel dons a black bra and white underwear with a small kitten print in the center. The joke makes Dipper laugh every time he sees it.

He runs his fingers through her hair, gently, to not rouse her from her slumber. The menu song from Mario Kart 64 loops in the background. She'd fallen asleep after losing to Dipper for the third time in a row. Dipper had already been under the covers, so he hadn't bothered to get up and turn it off.

Suddenly, she stirs. Her eyes flutter open. She looks up at her brother with such a wonder, Dipper wonders if she's alright.

"Dipper?"

He worries she doesn't remember. The thought makes him sick. He would hate himself, he'd forever think he'd taken advantage of her, even though she was totally sober. His heart drops and he expects the worst as he chokes out a "Yes?"

She grabs his hands and holds them close to her chest. "I don't want anyone else. I know I say that a lot, and I'm sorry. We'll work through whatever, okay?"

She ends up holding him that night, with his hands tangled in her hair and the scent of her surrounding him.

What really gets him, what sends him over the edge, is when she says so clearly and confidently, that she regrets nothing.

And that she's in love with him.

* * *

Months later, Dipper is packing his room. Piles of clothes and old video games are stacked all around his room, some to keep, some to give away to the neighbor kids. Even though it's the sunniest day it could possibly be, no clouds in sight, and the temperature is just right, he can't seem to shake a melancholy feeling.

Leaving home. For a certain reason, it's great. But like everyone else who leaves their house after graduation, leaving feels terrible. It's the real world after this; college and taxes and jobs and careers. This is life, his own, and he's free to live it how he wants. He only gets one shot.

And the person he wants to spend the rest of it with wraps her slender arms around him. Rests her chin on his shoulder. He can tell she's on her toes to get that far. He turns around and wraps his arms around her waist.

"I think leaving the Mystery Shack was worse," he says.

"Yeah, and you remember the day we left? Grunkle Stan could hardly contain himself."

"Haha, he turned out he was more of a crybaby than we thought."

"Well, we did find those cheesy romantic comedies in his room." She raises her eyebrows and smirks.

"True," he laughs, and kisses her forehead.

It's a bit crazy how much they've been through. Monsters and zombies and gnomes, pigs too.

Things aren't always hard or angst filled. Sometimes he likes these moments. Where they're happy. And they dance around the room to Baba and her laughs fill the almost empty room.

And when they stop to catch their breath, she asks him where they're going after this. He replies with a smile and assures her it's somewhere she'll like.

Away from here. A cozy apartment with room for the both of them, even a pig.

They're telling their parents that to save money, they're sharing an apartment.

Not too bad of a lie, really.

* * *

Slamming the trunk shut, Dipper crosses to his parents and gives them both a hug. A small thought lingers in the back of his mind: What if they knew?

He clears his mind. They don't, and they won't.

His mother, of course, is in tears as she gives him a tight hug goodbye.

His father hugs him, pats him on the back, and tells him to take care of Mabel.

He replies that won't be an issue.

Sliding into the car, a graduation present from their parents, Dipper looks at Mabel, who smiles widely at him.

"Take me to my castle, my knight," she says with a smile as she props her feet up on the dash.

"As you wish, m'lady."


End file.
